Contributed by: BryneBryne(others by this writer | submit your own)Published on February 9th 2010It seems like only yesterday we were posting news of Avail frontman Tim Barry and his initial excursions as a solo artist, yet here we are with yet another new full-length from him (his fourth in five years if we're counting 2006's Laurel St. Demo): 28th & Stonewall. And while Stonewall is probably .

It seems like only yesterday we were posting news of Avail frontman Tim Barry and his initial excursions as a solo artist, yet here we are with yet another new full-length from him (his fourth in five years if we're counting 2006's Laurel St. Demo): 28th & Stonewall. And while Stonewall is probably the least strongest of Barry's output thus far, it's solid enough that it can hardly be perceived as a regression.

Much like "Texas Cops" from 2008's Manchester and "Trash Inspirations" from 2006's Rivanna Junction, "Thing of the Past" serves as a slightly upbeat and competent opening track, anchored primarily by the boot scootin' electric guitar stylings of Josh Small. The brash and brutally honest demeanor Barry takes on when he's performing these types of songs is when he's at his best; other prime examples of this from Stonewall would have to include the bluesy, horn-driven "Will Travel," the extremely passionate "Short G'Bye" (the conviction in Barry's voice in the chorus when yelling "I tried" is particularly goosebump-inducing), and the one-two closing punch of "(Memento Mori)" and "Bus Driver," the latter of which gets fairly rowdy thanks to some strategically-placed harmonica and gang vocals (yes, really) that could very well replace "Dog Bumped" as Barry's de facto set closer.

28th & Stonewall is a bit hit-and-miss when reaching for softer, more introspective textures, but when it's on, it's really on. Barry's piano ballads have always been great, and the heart-wrenching "Moving on Blue" is certainly no exception; Barry's vocal performances have steadily improved over the years, and on "Blue" it's clear he's able to carry a song with little more than his vocal cords with relative ease. He takes a similarly somber approach on "Bozeman," where the speed (or lack thereof) match the tone of the lyrics perfectly and the lap steel guitar (presumably played by Small as well) is a welcome, if familiar touch.

The aforementioned misses on Stonewall are twofold and directly related to each other; at nearly five minutes apiece, both "Prosser's Gabriel" and "With Ease I Leave" drag quite a bit (although the former tackles a tricky subject admirably, it could be about a minute shorter without sacrificing any of its gravity) and make the album seem a lot heavier on slower songs than it actually is--the ratio of slow to fast songs here is probably 7:5, depending on who you ask--which ultimately hurts its replay value. Hardly a fatal blow by any means, but devastating enough to rank this record below both Manchester and Rivanna Junction in terms of overall quality. Regardless, there's more than enough good songs on 28th & Stonewall to keep Barry's growing legacy intact.

What? That's such a dumb thing to say, and not because I disagree about the quality of Rivanna Junction (because it IS fantastic), but because that was only 3 and a half years ago, and there was only one fucking album in between Rivanna and this new one.

It was just so fucking pointless (like this message) to even post! I can see if he put out, like, 13 fucking albums since Rivanna Junction, but there was only one!

as in, there are even more words and verbs around these that pile on yet more conveyance. I'm not a writing nazi, but that sentence is one of the most confusing, garbled, hard to follow lack of clarity sentences ever. After that, its fine, I dont give a shit about proper semicolon use, so on, but if you don't make basic sense, your review is going to be a waste of the readers time. Even past least strongest, saying its the weakest album but doesn't regress is just bad, it's saying one thing then the total opposite. I know what your getting at, but your saying it in a way that makes it impossible to follow and like your saying two totally different things. Despite being the least bluest, it can't be seen as failing to be bluer. See? So many negative claims on top of a lack of a quality.....okay.....good review, just never write a sentence like that again.

Better: Despite clocking in as the weakest tim barry release, it shouldn't be discounted entirely as without progressive strides.

I just can't get into this shit. With few exceptions, every one of these recent acoustipunk solo acts sounds pointless and inauthentic to me. I'll go so far as to say that now even includes Chuck Ragan.

I'd much rather hear a standards album from this guy than more derivative "original" material.

much like every tim barry release since the demo, at first i didn't like it as much as the previous one until about a couple days later and then i couldn't stop listening to it. the step from rivanna junction to manchester was huge. the emotion in tim's voice found on manchester is just massive. that carried onto this release and makes it quite powerful. the lyrics again are very personal and honest, which is what makes tim's stuff great. i completely disagree with "With Ease I Leave" being a weak track (as i find myself singing it all the time), despite it's length. it's still under 5 minutes long. the slow burners are where tim really shines anyway. "Prosser's Gabriel" is insanely catchy, though the argument of the song seems somewhat flawed to me. each album has great songs, and the songs that are any lesser don't seem like filler or a burden on the release. it helps ease a nice flow. is this album better than the last, i don't know, but i love it just the same and it still has everything that makes tim great in it.

Least strongest...well done. Just saw Tim Barry for the first time with Chuck Ragan/Dave Hause. His amp quit mid song so he walked out in to the crowd to play while it got fixed. The dude puts on a fucking powerful show!